Carlos Molina Wants Alvarez, Top 10 Junior Middleweights

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By Matthew Paras

Boxing isn’t always fair.

From his two close fights against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to the highly controversial disqualification loss to James Kirkland last March, Carlos Molina knows this quite well. Since the Kirkland bout, Molina has been in the gym to remain active while trying to forget about that fight.

Now as he looks to secure another fight, one fighter on his mind is Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez. “I see that as a good fight for me,” Molina, 19-5-2 (6), said. “He tends to wait a lot. He fights in bursts and I’m in and out. I think could pick at him, frustrate him and just work him through to get the knockout.”

The WBC junior middleweight titlist is still in need of an opponent after original challenger Paul Williams’ tragic accident and Kirkland seemingly pricing himself out. Still, of all the possible candidates mentioned as a replacement, Molina is not one of them.

Molina has had a hard time securing an opponent after his March performance against Kirkland, a fight in which Molina used roughhouse tactics such as clinching and pushing to negate Kirkland’s aggression. It was a strategy that was highly criticized by media and fans alike. However, Molina doesn’t feel his game plan in that fight is the reason he hasn’t landed another fight.

“More than anything, I was boxing. I was showing flaws in Kirkland that they didn’t even see before in his previous fights. I exposed him a little bit,” Molina stated. “Now all of a sudden, ‘Canelo’ wants to fight him after seeing how he looked against me. That’s kind of what they do. They go out there with a guy they think they can beat.”

Even if Molina isn’t able to get in the ring with Alvarez, there are still plenty of opponents he has his eyes on. His promoter, Warriors Boxing, has been trying to get him back into the ring.

“They mentioned Vanes Martirosyan but I guess he didn’t want the fight. [There’s] a possibility of me against Miguel Cotto, a possibility of an Erislandy Lara rematch,” he said. “Anyone at 154 in the top 10, I just want anyone in the top 10.”

Part of that top 10 includes a rematch with James Kirkland. Kirkland, who expressed interest initially in a rematch, chose to target Alvarez for the bigger payday instead. Molina was not happy.

“They were saying they wanted the rematch; they were going to give me the rematch. They agreed to it as fast as possible but then they were saying about his shoulder [being injured],” Molina stated. “They said he was going to be out until in October but they came back and said they already had a fight and are fighting someone else.”

If Molina can’t secure a rematch against Kirkland, there’s still the active appeal to overturn his latest loss. Molina and his camp filed the appeal to the Texas State Athletic Commission contending the fight should be reversed to a “no-contest” due to referee John Schorle making an incorrect call (by administrating an eight-count instead of allowing the round to end after Molina rose from a knockdown).

As of this month, Molina still hasn’t heard anything from the commission.

“They’re taking their time. When [Bernard] Hopkins fought [Chad] Dawson, it took them a couple of months,” he said. “I’m not even worrying about that. I just want to get another fight.”

When Carlos Molina returns to the ring remains to be seen. In the meantime, he’ll be training in the gym, staying ready- and waiting.